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Chicago Auto Show Parody Site upsets officials

We have to hand it to these guys for having a wonderful sense of humour to say the least. It’s worth playing around with the parody site to see how its authors manipulated the original content of the official Chicago Auto Show site. We really appreciated the “Parking” link in General information, which gives you the answer “There's no such thing as Free Parking”, how true!

However, humour is not the essence of the “2007 Chicago Auto Show Shutdown” as the main object of this site is to inform people about the "Auto Show SHUTDOWN Festival" which is an annual event where hundreds of cyclists parade through Chicago to raise awareness about global warming and to promote sustainable transportation. The ride culminates in a rally at the entrance of the 2007 Chicago Show that opens on the 9th of February. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below to see the rest of the article and the pics

The thing is that “2007 Chicago Auto Show” officials got annoyed with the parody site so they did the obvious: a lawyer sent a threatening letter claiming that the website amounted to trademark infringement and that it would seek damages if it weren’t taken down. However, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which is a non-profit group that includes lawyers, technologists, volunteers, and visionaries who protect digital rights, backed the parody site. EEF responded with a letter to the “2007 Chicago Auto Show” officials claiming among others that“the auto show does not actually own the trademark it is claiming was infringed. Records show that the Chicago Auto Show abandoned the mark by neglecting to respond to correspondence from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as required by law” Via: Wired & EEF

Chicago - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) warned the Chicago Auto Show today to back off attempts to muzzle protestors who posted a parody of the show's website.

The parody site, autoshowshutdown.org, is a clearinghouse for information about the "Auto Show SHUTDOWN Festival" -- an annual event where hundreds of cyclists parade through Chicago to raise awareness about global warming and to promote sustainable transportation. The ride culminates in a rally at the entrance to the show. But this week, a lawyer for the auto show sent a threatening letter to the protestors, claiming that the website amounted to trademark infringement and that it would seek damages if the parody was not taken down.

In a letter sent in response today, EFF reminded the auto show that trademark infringement must involve some commercial use, which is clearly not the case in this non-profit, community-organized protest.

"Auto show organizers can't stop thousands of citizens from attending the SHUTDOWN Festival. Instead, they have resorted to baseless trademark claims to silence critics and interfere with planning for an event that embarrasses them," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "Both trademark law and the First Amendment won't allow for that."

In addition, an EFF investigation found that the auto show does not actually own the trademark it is claiming was infringed. Records show that the Chicago Auto Show abandoned the mark by neglecting to respond to correspondence from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as required by law.

"The auto show seems so scared of fair competition in the marketplace of ideas that they aren't playing clean," said protest organizer Dan Korn. "Fortunately, we know our free speech rights, and we will be exercising them during the SHUTDOWN Festival, despite their threats."

EFF's letter to the Chicago Auto Show is part of its ongoing campaign to protect online free speech from the chilling effects of bogus intellectual property claims. EFF is currently representing a blogger threatened with copyright infringement by ABC after criticizing talk radio hosts. In November, EFF reached an agreement with the corporate owners of the popular children's television character Barney the Purple Dinosaur to withdraw meritless legal threats against a website publisher who parodied the character.